


Sleight of Hand

by purple_bookcover



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Anal Fingering, Ashelix Week (Fire Emblem), Card Magic, First Dates, Hobbies, M/M, magician, mentalism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-19
Updated: 2020-10-19
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:29:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27105742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purple_bookcover/pseuds/purple_bookcover
Summary: Felix hates magic. Naturally, therefore, Annette's favorite magician drags Felix on stage to make a fool of him. A series of complicated tricks results in Felix having the magician's phone number, but he'd be crazy to actually call Ashe, right?Right?Maybe Felix just wants to find out what else those tricky fingers can do.
Relationships: Ashe Duran | Ashe Ubert/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29
Collections: Ashelix Week 2020





	Sleight of Hand

**Author's Note:**

> Ashelix Week Day 3: Hobbies. With art by [Catatune](https://twitter.com/Catatune/status/1318304714061193217?s=20)! (The art doesn't contain spoilers. It's just a bit from the first scene.)
> 
> I always love the idea of Ashe having clever hands. Also, I sometimes go on insane magic binges and watch hours of performances, so please forgive me if the first part of this is way too long and/or detailed. You can skip to the last scene if you just want the smut.

Felix hated magic. 

Sleight of hand. Card tricks. Mentalism. Illusions. It was all, unequivocally and undeniably, utter bullshit. For some reason people wanted to add insult to injury and actually _pay_ someone to deceive them. 

But it was all Annette wanted for her birthday.

So here he was. 

At a gods damned magic show.

Annette was nearly bouncing in her seat, just barely not vibrating as they waited for the show to start. Fortunately, Felix was not alone. Mercedes was on her other side, letting Annette squeeze her hand to pulp. 

Felix silently cursed the rest of their friends for sneaking out of this. “Work.” “Family stuff.” Sylvain hadn’t even bothered to provide an excuse. 

The lights dimmed. Annette squeaked. She snatched Felix’s hand as well. He winced. What did she do in her free time? Annette was likely to break his damn fingers if the magician didn’t appear and end the suspense soon.

Music boomed. The lights flared, glaring on the stage. They were sitting close enough to the front that Felix could see the stage hand who signaled the magician. The charlatan jogged out, waving, beaming. 

“Ladies and gentleman,” the speaker system boomed, “the amazing, the confounding, the magical … Ashe Ubert!” 

The crowd erupted. Annette released Felix’s hand, but only so she could cup her mouth and shriek. 

Felix grit his teeth and waited out the avalanche of sound. The man on stage didn’t look all that impressive, truth be told. He was pretty ordinary, almost innocent looking. Felix wondered if the freckles scattered across his cheeks were just for show, just to make him endearing to the crowd. He certainly projected trustworthy friendliness. 

For all that, he was still a showman. 

Just as the crowd’s cheers began to quiet, he swept off his top hat and dipped into a bow. A rabbit peaked out of the hat. The crowd gasped. The magician feigned surprise before setting the hat and rabbit aside on a little table on the stage. 

“Forgive my assistant,” the magician said. “He’s just as eager as I am to get the show started.” 

The crowd laughed. Felix rolled his eyes. This Ashe even had silver hair. Goddess, was anything about him real? He wore a tuxedo, like this was some old timey 1920s magic show. Felix supposed it was meant to be cute and charming. 

Ashe pulled a deck of cards out of his pocket. They were sealed, allegedly, and he broke that seal in order to pull out the deck and fan out the cards. 

“A lot of magic you’ll see these days involves card tricks,” Ashe said. “It’s an old staple. And I can’t really blame anyone for that. Cards, you see, are extremely magical.” 

Ashe approached the edge of the edge as he continued his monologue. 

“You there in the front row,” Ashe said, “pick a card, any card you like.” 

A gleeful man leaned forward in his chair to pluck a card out of the deck. Felix’s stomach tied itself in knots. Great. This was one of _those_ magicians. The kind who liked to “get the crowd involved.” And Annette just _had_ to sit near the front. Gods, this was going to be a long night. 

The man stuck his card back in the deck and Ashe shuffled. As he was pacing back onto the stage, however, he tripped. The cards flew up in a flurry, scattering across the stage. The crowd gasped. A heavy silence blanketed the theater. 

Then Ashe rose, saying nothing, just smirking as the crowd realized the card now clutched between his teeth was the very ace of diamonds the man in the front row had just chosen. 

Ashe spit the card out and took a bow as the crowd went absolutely ballistic. 

Felix crossed his arms, sinking down in his seat. 

More card tricks, sleight of hand, most likely. Some coin work. Felix had definitely seen a video or two about how to do that one. Did no one else in the damn building have the internet? None of this was actually mysterious if you just looked it up. 

Ashe had done away with parts of the tuxedo. He was down to a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, his pants and suspenders that looped over his shoulders. 

“This next trick is very special,” Ashe said, “and requires a very special volunteer. I cannot perform this alone. Everyone, if you would, please, close your eyes, just for a moment, and think very very hard about whether you want to help me.” 

Around Felix, everyone started closing their eyes, a few even nodding their heads forward. 

“Good,” Ashe said. His voice had quieted, like he was telling the entire crowd a bedtime story. It was oddly soothing, but Felix stubbornly kept his eyes open. 

“Now,” Ashe said, “just think about something pleasant. Anything at all. Flowers, cakes … sex.” A ripple of laughter. “Whatever makes you feel happy. Just concentrate on that for a minute for me.” 

Ashe paced back and forth on the stage, peering into the crowd. When he stopped, he looked directly at Felix, directly at the only person keeping their eyes open. Felix went cold, but refused to so much as blink as the magician smirked at him. 

“Very good,” Ashe said. “You can open your eyes.”

The crowd murmured and shuffled.

“I’ve been told there’s someone in this theater who’s very, very special. They’re the exact person I’ve been looking for. In fact, they are the _only_ person in this entire theater who can perform this trick with me.” 

Ashe’s eyes locked on Felix. 

“You,” he said. “Would you stand up, sir?” 

Felix’s jaw tightened to breaking. His whole body went stiff. 

Annette elbowed him in the side. “Get up, idiot,” she hissed. 

“No,” Felix grit out.

“ _Felix._ ” 

Ashe was just standing there in no rush at all, as though there wasn’t an entire theater of people staring at him and waiting for the show to go on. 

Annette elbowed Felix harder. 

“Ow, gods, fine.” 

Felix stood. His legs felt shaky. He locked his knees and crossed his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes at Ashe. 

“Thank you,” Ashe said. “You must be...” Ashe waved a hand as though summoning words out of the air. “Felix, is that right?” 

“Yes!” Annette chirped beside him. 

The crowd murmured and clapped.

“You heard her say it,” Felix grumbled.

“What was that?”

The crowd quieted. Felix could practically feel the held breaths all around him. He looked Ashe dead in the eyes as he repeated: “You heard her say it. Or you read her lips. Whatever.”

To his surprise, Ashe’s smile only widened. “Right you are!” He laughed. “But she didn’t tell me the rest. Why don’t you join me on stage?”

The crowd clapped, a mixture of curiosity and confusion, judging by the looks people were shooting Felix. Annette shoved him from where she sat. 

“Go!”

Felix muttered but started moving. A stage hand showed him to a set of stairs. He felt more exposed with every stair that led him up onto the stage, until he was standing above the crowd, pacing toward the gods damned grinning magician waiting for him. 

Felix eyed him up and down. He didn’t seem to have anything on him, but the pockets of his pants could conceal any number of tricks or gadgets. 

The curl of Ashe’s smile suggested he found Felix’s appraisal amusing more than threatening. 

“Thank you so much, sir,” Ashe said. 

“Don’t call me sir,” Felix muttered.

“Alright then. Thank you so much, _Felix_.” 

Goddess spare him, the way Ashe dragged out the sound of his name did something terrifying to Felix’s blood, stirred something in his gut that made him clench his hands. 

“Please wait right there for a moment,” Ashe said. 

He retreated to his little table on the stage, then returned with a book. He held up the book in front of Felix. 

“Felix, I’m going to hand you this book. What I want you to do is flip to any page, any page at all, and read any line on that page. Don’t say it out loud, just read it to yourself. Sound good?” 

“Fine,” Felix grumbled. 

Ashe slapped his shoulder before skipping away. He pulled a chalkboard onto the stage. It was the kind you saw on TV shows of old classrooms, the kind that could rotate all the way around. Ashe flipped it so the back faced the crowd. 

“Go ahead, Felix,” Ashe said. “Any page at all.”

Felix grimaced but flipped through the book as instructed, picking a page completely at random and jabbing his finger onto the paper. 

“Great,” Ashe said. “Now keep that page and line in your mind. Think about it real hard for me. Focus all your energy, all your attention, on just that one line. Got it?” 

Felix sighed but did as instructed. _The knight crossed the river, chasing three enemies into the forest._

Fascinating stuff. Felix rolled his eyes.

Page 54. Line eight. _The knight crossed the river, chasing three enemies into the forest._

“Perfect,” Ashe said. 

Felix looked up when he heard tapping. Ashe was scribbling on the chalkboard.

Felix expected him to reveal whatever he’d just written, but Ashe just set the chalk down and walked back up to Felix. He snatched the book out of Felix’s hands, tossing it theatrically away. 

“You don’t have to keep thinking about it,” Ashe said. 

“I--”

The crowd laughed. How was that even funny? 

Ashe took him by the arms, giving him a shake. “Relax, Felix! The more tense you are, the more obvious your thoughts are. You’re making my job way too easy.” 

More laughter. Felix rolled his eyes again. He’d be seeing the back of his skull at this rate.

Ashe put a hand on either side of Felix’s face, forcing Felix to look forward and directly into his eyes. Felix hadn’t realized from down in his seat how bright and green they were. From this close, it even seemed like the freckles might be real and not drawn on. 

Ashe smiled. It was like he’d picked some sort of lock in Felix’s brain. Despite his best intentions, Felix felt himself relent in Ashe’s hold, relaxing in spite of himself. 

“Good,” Ashe said, using that soft, hypnotic tone again. “Just relax. Now, I want you to think about a birthday. Any birthday. Doesn’t have to be your own. Just think about that.”

“OK.” 

Ashe watched him. The eye contact was horrible, but Felix couldn’t exactly get away from it just then. 

Ashe finally released him. “Wonderful, Felix. We’re gonna play a game so I can get that birthday out of your head. Are you ready?” 

“I guess...” 

“The enthusiasm is truly contagious,” Ashe said. “I’m sure the audience can see why I selected you out of everyone here.” 

A ripple of laughter. 

“I want you to tell me a story, Felix,” Ashe said. 

Felix’s mouth moved, but he struggled to find words. “A-about what?”

“Anything you want!” 

“I … don’t know any stories.” 

“Here, I’ll get you started,” Ashe said. “Once upon a time...” 

Felix floundered for words. He realized an instant later that that was what Ashe had planned all along.

“Let’s make this simpler,” Ashe said. “Just count.”

“Count?”

“Yup! One to ten. Can you remember your numbers, Felix, or have I magicked them away?”

The crowd appreciated that one far more than Felix did. 

“One,” Felix grumbled dryly. 

“Hold on,” Ashe said. “Remember to think of that birthday.” 

“Right. Fine.” He concentrated for a moment. Annette’s stupid birthday was the reason he was here, so he supposed May 9 was as good a birthday as any to choose.

“Wait,” Ashe said. “It has to be numbers. You’re thinking in words.”

“H--” Felix bit that back. “Fine.” The word squeezed between clenched teeth.

He let out a breath. 05/09. May 9. 05/09. He thought it over and over, not that it actually fucking mattered. Ashe wasn’t _actually_ reading his mind. 

“That’s great, Felix,” Ashe said. “Now count.”

“One … two … three...” 

“Stop.” Ashe squinted at him. “Nevermind, keep going.” 

“Four … five … six...”

“Hm, interesting. OK.”

“Seven … eight … nine … ten.” 

Felix was only too happy to be done. Ashe made him repeat a couple numbers – for some damn reason – before relenting and returning to his chalkboard. There, he scribbled for several long minutes while Felix stood awkwardly on the stage, melting in the blaring lights, shifting from foot to foot as the crowd watched him. 

Ashe finally re-emerged. 

“Felix, you’ve been an absolute pleasure,” Ashe said. “A model assistant.”

He flipped the board over. Felix’s eyes went wide. Written across it were the words:

 _The knight crossed the river, chasing three enemies into the forest._

_5 4 8 0 5 0 9_

Felix’s blood went cold. He forgot about the crowd, gaping at the chalkboard. 

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Felix,” Ashe chirped. “Could you maybe explain to the audience?” 

“That’s … not possible.” 

Ashe strode up to Felix, putting an arm over his shoulders, turning them both to face the crowd.

“The knight crossed the river, chasing three enemies into the forest,” Ashe said. “Page 54, line eight of the book I handed you, isn’t that right?”

“Yeah...”

The crowd ooed. What came next nearly knocked Felix’s feet out from under him.

“May 9th,” Ashe said. “Oh-five-oh-nine. I believe that’s your friend’s birthday.” He shaded his eyes, looking into the crowd. 

Annette leapt up, jumping and shrieking. The crowd laughed at the reaction but Felix stood absolutely frozen.

The crowd applauded and roared. Ashe shielded Felix for a moment, facing him and shaking his hand.

“That you so much for your help,” Ashe said. “You were absolutely perfect.” 

Did Felix imagine that wink? He had no idea. He was numb as he paced off the stage and the staff led him back to his seat. 

Only when he sat and Ashe moved on with the show, doing some sort of trick with a map or something, did Felix realize he was holding something. There was a folded piece of paper in his hand. Ashe must have passed it to him when he shook Felix’s hand there at the end. 

Felix unfolded it, hands trembling at what he might find. It read:

_548-0509 is also my phone number._

Felix stared at the little paper in his palm and didn’t notice a single other second of the show.

#

He couldn’t call this number, right? He shouldn’t call it. It would be crazy. It would be ridiculous.

Felix called.

“I knew you’d call,” Ashe said. 

“Bullshit,” Felix said.

Ashe laughed. “That’s not nice.” 

“What do you want?”

“You’re the one who called me,” Ashe said.

Felix ground his teeth together. He couldn’t dispute that, but even so. 

“Dinner,” Ashe said. 

“Excuse me?”

“That’s what I want,” Ashe said, “and, I suspect, what you want too.”

“How do you know?”

“I’m a magician, remember? I can read your mind.” 

Felix rolled his eyes so hard he suspected Ashe could hear it through the phone.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me,” Ashe said. 

OK, that wasn’t supposed to be literal. Felix clenched his teeth tighter.

“There’s a taco stand downtown. 5th and Cherry. See you there at 8?”

“A taco stand?” Felix said.

“You don’t strike me as the fancy sort. Thought I’d keep it in your comfort zone this time.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“You’re most welcome,” Ashe said. “See you then.” 

He hung up.

#

Felix went to the damn taco stand. He shoved his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, standing off to the side of the queue of people waiting for tacos. It wasn’t cold, but he hunched anyway, glowering at the sidewalk. The other patrons filtered around him, giving him a wide berth.

Goddess, what was he doing here? It was dark, rapidly getting chilly. Half the people getting tacos were already drunk; the other half were grabbing a last bit of sustenance before heading to the bars themselves. All up and down the street, bars and clubs and restaurants turned on glowing signs. A bright pink “Flamingos” for the club at the corner. Blue and red “Jack’s” for the burger joint. Flowing green cursive for “Brews and Bakes,” the hip sports bar that served giant pretzels alongside niche IPAs. 

Felix hated all of it at that moment. He just wanted to get his damn taco and leave. Why even wait? He should just leave, just turn tail and run.

A bus hissed as it stopped at the corner, letting out passengers. Just more people hoping to get sloppy tonight. 

Felix watched it roll away. Ashe waved at him from across the street.

Felix went cold. Ashe beamed at him like they were old friends, running through the crosswalk as the walk sign blinked a warning. 

His hair wasn’t as neat as it had been during his show, falling around his face in silver tufts. He wore a long jacket with large pockets that Felix couldn’t help being suspicious of, but a plain T-shirt and jeans beneath that. 

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Ashe said. “The bus was a little late.”

Felix just shrugged.

“Let’s get in line.” 

Felix trailed Ashe to the end of a long line that curled down the sidewalk, feeling more ridiculous with each passing moment. 

“Feeling hungry?” Ashe said.

“I … guess,” Felix said. 

“This place has the absolute best tacos, I promise. Beef, chicken, fish, vegetarian – whatever you like. The veggie ones are actually incredible, if that’s your thing.”

“It’s not.” 

Ashe laughed. “Well, that’s not surprising.” 

“If I managed to surprise you you’d be out of a job, wouldn’t you?”

Ashe raised an eyebrow, considering that. The line shifted forward. “Not quite,” he said. “What I do on stage is just a trick, after all.”

“You mean you can’t read minds all the time?”

“It’s not reading minds so much as just being observant. For example, you’re nervous as hell.”

“Excuse me?” A flush of embarrassment crawled up Felix’s neck.

“I hope it’s because you like me–” Ashe shrugged “–but it could just be because you don’t really like being around so many people.”

“How...”

Ashe winked. It was far more charming than it had any right to be. “Doesn’t take magic to know that, Felix. You’re a pretty open book. Why do you think I chose you?”

“Are you implying you choose easy targets?”

“Of course,” Ashe said. “That’s half the trick – knowing who will be ‘receptive’ and who won’t.” 

Felix blinked to keep from gaping. This sneaky little... 

The line shifted again. They were near the front. Felix busied himself pondering the brief menu of tacos to distract from how unnerved he was by Ashe. Could this guy just see everything that easily? Felix certainly didn’t believe in magic, but his powers of perception were creepy. 

It was just observations, Felix told himself. Some people could just read other people. That’s all Ashe was doing, but turned up to 11. No magic involved.

They got their tacos (vegetarian for Ashe, beef for Felix) and Ashe started walking. Felix didn’t realize he’d followed without question until they were a block from the taco stand and approaching a park with a fountain in the center. 

“Where are we?” Felix said.

“Never been here?” Ashe said. “I figured this park might be a little more your speed. It should be a little quieter than the main drag, even on a Friday night.” 

He was right. Naturally. 

The park was large, pushing away the city to provide a gasp of open space among the clustered apartments and businesses woven through downtown. Trees studded a path winding up a hillside. The fountain gurgled off to one side. There were jungle gyms, tennis courts, even an area with some bleachers creating a half-circle around a little cleared out space like a stage made of grass. 

Ashe steered between all the entertainments, sticking to the path among the trees, the quietest part of the park. 

“Good, right?” Ashe said.

Felix had to nod, his mouth full of food. 

“Hey, why don’t we sit while we finish these? There’s a bench over there.”

They wandered to the bench. It was a relief. Felix got to focus on his food and not the conversation. The fillings dripped down his fingers as he attempted to wrangle the taco, but it was so good he didn’t even care. By the time he finished, he’d gone through about half a forest worth of napkins, but his stomach was warm and full. 

But now there was nothing left to distract him. 

He glanced over, cautious, but Ashe was just watching the park, his tacos already gone. Felix busied himself cleaning off his fingers, adding the dirty napkins to a little paper bag full of their combined trash. 

“This is the first place I ever performed,” Ashe said. His eyes had gone distant and dreamy. “I didn’t have much money or anything back then, but I was always pretty good at little sleight of hand kinda things. I was practicing in this park and someone threw some change in hat. I didn’t even remember that I’d set it on the ground, but pretty soon it was full.” 

“Thought it was illegal to perform here.”

“Oh, it is,” Ashe said. He smiled over at Felix. “That kinda thing is pretty hard to enforce.” 

Felix swallowed. Why was his throat so dry? Must have been the tacos. 

“Anyway, I got better,” Ashe said. “Could consistently draw a decent crowd, especially on days the cruise ships came in and dropped a bunch of tourists in town. Decided to make an actual job of it.”

He looked over at Felix. “Not that you really care about any of that. Sorry, I ramble when I’m nervous.”

“I...” What? Was he going to claim he cared about the story? He did, Felix found, though he didn’t quite understand why, but he certainly wasn’t going to admit that. “I didn’t realize you got nervous.”

“Of course I do.”

“You spend so much time on stage.”

“Doesn’t mean I can’t get nervous spending time with an attractive stranger I slipped my phone number to during work.” A blush glowed in Ashe’s cheeks. He rubbed the back of his neck. “That was pretty unprofessional, but I had to go for it.” 

“Had to...” Felix swallowed, but it didn’t stuff down the heat lighting his face. He was grateful for the gathering gloom. Even if it was making the city chillier, it hid his reaction. 

“Being on stage is one thing,” Ashe said, “but one on one is different...” 

He was looking up from under his eyelashes, which were ridiculously long, Felix had just realized. At the performance, Ashe had clearly worn makeup, but Felix thought he looked better like this. It was easier to see his little pinprick freckles without concealer smoothing out his skin. His eyes were bright and large even without eyeliner to frame them. 

Fuck, Felix’s throat was dry. Why was it still so dry? 

“Hey, Felix,” Ashe said.

“Hm?”

“I’d … really like to kiss you.”

Felix’s eyes fluttered through rapid blinks. “Oh.”

“I kinda wanted to since I got a look at you up on that stage,” Ashe said, “but since we’re here and all, I wondered, I mean, if you wanted to...”

“I...” Felix squeezed the words out of his throat like he was wringing out a sponge. “Yeah, OK.”

Ashe’s face brightened, somehow becoming more impossibly endearing. “Really?”

“Just shut up and do it if you’re going to do it.”

Ashe didn’t risk it any longer. He leaned in. Felix felt dizzy with the smell of fresh mint as Ashe drew close. He couldn’t resist moving toward the smell, eyes closing as he sought it out. Ashe rested a hand on his shoulder, neither pulling nor pushing, just resting there to steady them both as their lips finally met. 

It was soft, so soft Felix nearly missed it. Mostly, he noticed the heat, like the sun shone only on this one bench in this one park. That smell of fresh, growing, green things surrounded Felix like a fragrant cloud, making him warm despite the coolness of the night. 

Ashe did not overstay his welcome, drawing away after only a moment. Felix wished he’d linger longer. He wanted more, he realized. His stomach clenched as though it was utterly empty, as though he hadn’t eaten in years, starved of the one thing he needed most. 

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” Ashe said.

“We just met.”

“Have we?”

Ashe’s smirk was infectious. Felix chased it. He reached for Ashe’s coat, not letting him get far, pressing their lips back together more boldly this time. 

When they broke apart, Felix suspected it didn’t take a magician to read his mind. Ashe’s lips were still parted, his eyes so bright there had to be some unseen light shining in them. Maybe it was just that heat, that secret sunlight pouring over both of them. 

“More of that?” Ashe breathed.

Felix nodded. “More of that.”

#

Felix kicked the door shut. At least, he assumed from the sound of the slam that it shut. It was impossible to tell with his mouth against Ashe’s as they stumbled into Ashe’s apartment.

Neither of them checked whether the door actually closed. They barely separated their mouths as they threw off coats and hoodies, kicked off shoes, dropped keys and wallets and phones to the floor. 

Felix had no idea where he was going. He clung to Ashe, following his mouth as Ashe tripped backward down a hall. They bumped against the wall, nearly knocking a picture to the floor. Ashe felt around behind him and opened another door. 

They tumbled into deeper darkness, a bedroom with the blinds drawn. That was just as well. Felix didn’t want anything to remind him of how insane and impulsive this all was.

After the moment in the park, they’d bolted for the buses. They found seats together, hands slotting together, rubbing and caressing, suggesting what was to come. Still, it had to be the longest bus ride known to mankind. By the time they finally exited into a neighborhood of apartments at the edge of the city, Felix was nearly vibrating with need. Ashe’s fingers were exceedingly clever, and not just with cards. In the span of that bus ride he’d communicated quite a lot simply by the way he squeezed Felix’s hand, rubbed his palm over Felix’s wrist, traced and teased along a single finger. Felix had never thought such simple things could be so absolutely filthy, but when they finally entered an apartment complex and rushed up the stairs to the fifth floor, Felix was out of breath from far more than just the climb. 

Now, it seemed that Ashe was going to make good on all those quiet promises. 

He dragged Felix with him when he hit the edge of the bed. Felix ended up on top of Ashe, their mouths still battling for dominance as their hands finally shoved up under shirts. 

Touching Ashe’s bare skin sent tremors through Felix. He was sure if he wasn’t on all fours on the bed he would fall over just from the jolting impossibility of the moment. Was this actually happening? Was he actually in the apartment of that random magician Annette freaked out about on her birthday? 

Ashe was solid and warm beneath him, writhing at his touch, murmuring into Felix’s mouth. Ashe gripped him by the sides of his face and pulled him closer until their bodies met. Felix felt Ashe straining against his jeans, rolling his hips up at Felix to make it abundantly clear just how eager he was. 

They broke for air. Felix didn’t even realize how long he’d gone without breathing properly until he was panting over Ashe. 

Ashe looked beautiful beneath him, gasping for breath, face flushed even in the dark, smiling, stroking Felix’s cheek. 

“I really picked right that night, huh?” Ashe said. 

Felix didn’t know what to say. He didn’t really care about words just now. 

Ashe flipped them over, surprisingly strong. He sat on top of Felix as he peeled his shirt off and tossed it to the floor. The meager light traced the hard planes of his chest and torso, splattered with sparse freckles like cards strewn across a stage.

Felix wanted to reach for him, but he started moving down, tugging at Felix’s belt, then undoing the fly of his pants. Only when Ashe got him down to boxers did Felix stop him. 

“You too.” 

Ashe smirked. “Alright.” 

He paused long enough to get his pants off, but Felix only got to enjoy the sight for a moment before Ashe slid his hands up Felix’s body, pushing his shirt up over his head as he went. When Felix’s chest was bare, Ashe reversed course, kissing back downward. Felix watched his silver hair bob lower and lower, until Ashe was right at the elastic hem of Felix’s boxers. There, he looked up, eyes piercing and mischievous, unnatural almost. Something feline lurked into those mossy green depths, something hungry. 

Ashe actually licked his lips, but when he pulled off Felix’s boxers and freed his cock, he didn’t use his mouth to tease Felix. Instead, Ashe stroked up and down Felix, his hand acting on all those subtle promises he’d made on the bus. Clever fingers worked Felix in swift pumps, then meandered lower yet, tracing along to swirl at his rim. 

Felix gasped, nerves set ablaze by that light touch. Ashe glanced up, a question in his face, and Felix just nodded. 

Ashe’s smile curled. He lunged for a bedside table, digging through a drawer. Even the way Ashe slicked up his fingers with lube seemed designed to toy with Felix. He’d never seen someone languidly pump their own finger, coating it with elaborate showiness, but goddess, it had him twitching up against his belly. 

Those devious fingers found him again, just trailing around, exploring like Felix wasn’t absolutely trembling beneath them. 

“Ashe,” he rasped. He couldn’t take much more. 

Ashe plunged a finger into him. It was quick and surprising. Felix arched, instantly quivering from just one digit. 

Ashe squeezed another one in beside it and Felix grit out a moan torn right out of his chest. Ashe wasn’t even moving yet. It was just two fingers. Felix felt like a trembling virgin with those clever fingers inside him. 

Then Ashe moved. Not a lot, but with sinister precision. 

Felix lost track of his fingers. He squeezed his eyes shut and gripped the comforter of this stranger’s bed, no longer caring how or why he’d come to be here in this unlikely place with this unusual person. Ashe was manipulating him like playing cards, his fingers too tricky to follow, to devious to predict. 

Ashe must have shifted or curled or done _something_ because just as Felix was beginning to think he was getting used to being so meticulously undone, it changed. New nerves flared bright, fire rippling up his body, making him squirm and writhe and cling to the bedsheets like he was trying to tear them. 

He bit out a curse and heard Ashe laugh softly, his voice just another vibration shaking Felix apart bit by bit like pebbles rattled loose by time and pressure, preceding a landslide. Felix already felt swept along by the shifting forces, powerful seismic elements gathering within him.

It was embarrassing, humiliating, the noises coming out of him, the quivering of his body, the way his cock felt like it was trembling. 

Ashe only urged him on. 

Those fingers shifted or changed or curled yet again and Felix arched so hard he wasn’t sure any part of him was still touching the bed. Ashe used his free hand to stroke along Felix’s cock, just one quick rub but it shattered Felix at last.

He wasn’t sure if the sound he made was real or just the cacophony blaring in his head. It didn’t make any difference. He couldn’t control his voice any more than he could control the way he shook as he came on himself. His writhing and squirming was probably creating a mess, but material concerns felt impossibly far away. 

He crashed back down, hitting the bed, panting for breath, still trembling all through his limbs. For a moment he just lay like that, trying to make any sort of sense out of all that had just happened, but it was difficult to even remember where he was, let alone why his body felt drained of every ounce of life force. If this was how he died, he had no complaints. 

A hand traced up his body, light fingers dancing over his skin. Ashe settled down beside him, heedless of the mess, kissing the sweat off Felix’s neck before nuzzling his nose against Felix’s skin. 

“What the fuck did you do to me?” Felix said.

Ashe laughed against him. “A little trick I know.”

Felix opened his eyes, trying to look over at Ashe. His vision was still bleary, like pleasure was dulling all his senses. “I think I like that one better than the others.”

Ashe stroked his face and kissed him. “Does that mean I’ll get to try it out again some time?” 

Try it again? That implied this was more than just a series of mishaps, a collection of coincidences tumbling toward this one moment. 

Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad.

Felix turned them so that Ashe was on his back, Felix leaning over him. “I think you might.”

Ashe smiled.

“But first...”

A new kind of fervor seized him as he made his way down Ashe’s body, eager for a chance to test a few tricks of his own. As the night went on, he discovered it wasn’t only Ashe who had a talent for reading someone’s thoughts without words. Ashe said nothing coherent the rest of that night, yet Felix felt sure by the time they collapsed in his bed that they were utterly aligned in body and mind.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/purplebookcover) (18+ please).
> 
> I respond to every comment. Thank you, friends!


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